Two Worlds 2

The original Two Worlds was a game that I really looked forward to, but when it came out there was so much to keep me from liking it that I actually only played the demo. The sequel is now out, in Europe at least, and it seems that they got a lot right this time around.

You start out with customizing your appearance as is more or less standard in this type of game. When the actual game starts you find yourself trying to escape from captivity and the main story thereafter revolves around saving your captured sister. The main story line is of medium length, but there's plenty of side quests to perform and the game world is very large. You will actually not even set foot in large parts of the world if you only rush trough the main quests, so there's a lot to explore.

Visually the game is simply beautiful, the graphics are very nice to look at both artistically and technically. The background tunes are quite suitable for the scenery and the voice acting is on par with or maybe even above average for the genre I would say, even though the main character sounds a little bit like Christian Bale's take on Batman. The dialogue is in my opinion above average for the genre. Care seems to be taken to avoid most fantasy clichés and present more mature conversations, I think it works pretty good. Some fantasy clichés do find their way in though, perhaps almost unavoidable in an RPG of this kind. One such is the pointy wizard hats that are so pointy that even Gandalf himself would be proud to wear one.

Ah, my own little corner of paradise

Ah, what would magic be without pointy hats

The camera as well as the character movement is a bit problematic at times, as two examples of the latter I sometimes found myself starting to sneak instead of running and I often got stuck behind my own summoned creatures in tight passages, then having to wait for the summoning spell to wear off. These problems aren't huge, but they are there.

The combat mechanics are ok, but wouldn't have been allowed inside a precision action game. Melee, ranged combat and magic are all viable play styles. I have so far spent most of my time in the world of Antaloor as a spellcaster, and the magic system is at first glance very interesting. Instead of learning set spells you combine different magical aspects (such as fire) with spell carriers (such as missile) and add modifiers (for example damage). With the examples in parenthesis you would create a spell that in many games would go under the name "firebolt". This seems very flexible, but in reality the options are somewhat limited since many of the possible combinations create the same spell but with different magical aspects, ie. ice bolt, lightning bolt, spectral bolt. There are some "special" combinations that mix it up by producing unexpected effects though. All in all I found myself relying on three different spells throughout the main story line. Even though the novel spell system isn't all that it perhaps could have been I thorougly respect the attempt to do something different though, and it does bring some new life into the firebolt slinging.

There are some mini games that function as lock picking, gambling by dice and pockpocketing. Lockpicking will probably be the most frequently used of these and it works pretty well. It's among the better lock picking mini games in the industry actually, which is not saying much though.

Oh, are you playing a game? Can I join? Splendid!

Playing dice can win (read lose) you a lot of money

So, is this a perfect game? No, sadly not, but it's definitely a good game, perhaps even great. And the difference in polish and quality from the original Two Worlds is really commendable. I would absolutely recommend this game not only to fans of the first, but even to those (such as me) who found the first game lacking.

I appreciate the dedication and courage it takes to produce and release a sequel when the original got such a poor reception, but they managed to turn the ship around and create a really nice and engrossing game this time. Pointy hats off to that! 

All the best

Monkey Island: the Special Editions are special

The remake of Monkey Island 2, played in "old school mode"

Ok, no one has missed them, and they're by no means new now. But the Special Edition releases of Monkey Island 1 & 2 are fantastic. I just needed to express my admiration for them.

The remake played in the revamped mode

The added voices, and improved sound and graphics adds a lot to the accessibility and, in my opinion, no atmosphere is lost in the translation. The streamlining of the old SCUMM system, which is perhaps a bit cumbersome by today's standard, goes a long way to make the games more accessible as well.

If you have played the originals, but not tried the remakes I promise you that they're a great reson for revisiting the series. If you haven't played the games at all you really should, you're in for a treat.

All the best

Zynga tops Electronic Arts - Social gaming overtaking conventional games?

Games associated with social networking services such as Facebook, sometimes called social games, are problably well know to most people who uses the internet to some extent. Most people who uses facebook regularly have probably tried some of them. The games are as a rule free to play, but to get ahead in the game you have the possibility to spend real money to buy in-game things. This gives the owners of the games a respectable income it seems. The really big name in the world of Facebook games is Zynga (owner of Farmville, Mafia Wars etc), and according to this article from Businessweek Zynga has now topped Electronic Arts in company stock market value. Electronic Arts is really no pushover in the computer games industry, but Zynga has now passed the giant.

Farmville, one of the biggest Facebook games

This is an interesting development. I have tried several of these Facebook games, but I haven't found them interesting enough to keep me playing for longer periods or invest money in them and thus I have personally not contributed to the income of companies such as Zynga. Most of my friends seem to have played the games as well, but when asking around it seems that they have played on the same premises. 

If this is representative of the larger mass of players it raises several questions. Is the income of Zynga mainly based of a few percent of the players, who then pours very large sums of money into the games? If so, is that because they actually find the games interesting enough to do so, or are there other psychological mechanisms in play. Almost anything can turn into an addiction, and computer games contains elements quite comparable to, for example, gambling. The typical social game has a very clear objective and a sense of advancement, getting to the next level, getting bigger farmland etc. which can be quite compelling mechanisms. It never ends though, there is always a next level and it gets increasingly harder to reach the next one, diminishing the sense of advancement. If you want to speed up the process though, you can always spend some money. Are the social games by this capitalizing on game addictions?

Another explanation could be that many players spend a little money on the games, but feel ashamed to admit that they payed real money to buy a virtual tractor for their Facebook farm. Maybe it's a combination of both?

Whatever the basis of income for the social games is, the phenomenon seems to be a serious factor in the future of computer games. And the fact that Zynga has overtaken Electronic Arts is a big wow in my book. Social gaming isn't a parenthesis in the gaming world, it's a one of the big boys. I wonder if this development means that we are going towards a future of more casual, bite sized games and less of the more conventional ones. Maybe the general modern game consumer doesn't have the time to invest in an expansive and deep experience? I hope this isn't the case, but a common rule is of course that development goes in the most profitable direction. We'll see what happens.

All the best

Reinventing spellcasting?

I recently came across the very new developer Arrowhead Game Studios, with an upcoming title named Magicka that looks pretty interesting. The basic concept seems to be a fantasy dungeon crawler where the focus is placed on spellcasting. This is a not a very uncommon setting per se, but the thing that really draws my attention is the way the spellcasting is presented with a somewhat novel mechanic. The player will mix and match different magical properties to a variety of effects in order to find combinations that suits the desired task. There's allegedly thousands of possible combinations to discover.

Screenshot of Magicka, taken from the official website

From the video clips available at the game website the game doesn't seem to take itself or its fantasy setting too seriously, which in my opinion could be either a lovable laugh at the expense of overused clichés or simply an attempt to hide an uninspired story and lack of an interesting game world under the veil of humour. We'll see how well they pull it off.

According to this hands on preview at Gamespot the game doesn't factor in skill points, a leveling system or even gold or other currency. There is supposedly loot to be had though. This could also swing both ways, it could potentially intensify the action by taking away distractive and unnecessary mechanics. It could, however, just as well mean that the game becomes stale quickly due to lack of incentive to keep playing.

The game mechanics concerning spell casting has the potential to bring a refreshing touch to the genre, but I do see the risk that the game tries to live on these new mechanics alone, which is something I don't think will work. It will need the complete package to fly, not only a single novelty. Time will tell, as always, but I will definitely be keeping an eye on this title.

All the best

The good, the bad and the internet

Below this somewhat vague topic I wanted to discuss the trend of downloadable content, DLC, in games. The fact that permanent high speed internet connections are now more and more readily available for the standard consumer presents perhaps both a blessing and a curse for one interested in games. Of course better connections provide many, many benefits but as a negative consequence of I think of the current trend of paid DLC.

Commercialism is a reality in this business as in all others. Some producers, hopefully most, do make games because of love for the art and the creative process. But making money is of course an important factor and I think it’s the maximizing of profits that sprung the DLC trend now that internet connections allow it. Just a few years ago the standard was for a successful game to receive an expansion pack six to twelve months after release, to revigorate a gameplay that by then maybe began to get stale. The new internet development gives the option to supply additional content with much more ease, no actual physical copies need to be made or shipped so distribution costs are minimal.

Is $15 an acceptable price for five more maps?

This makes it easier for producers to supply additional content for their games, and gives them the possibility to supply extra content even for less successful games where an expansion shipped as a physical copy wouldn’t be economically sound. Free DLC packs can also easily be distributed as a token of appreciation for the community. A backside to this is that with the ease to supply extra content more and more questionable DLC packs that carry a price tag are released; packs that include minimal amount of content but still costs one or a few dollars, pounds or euros depending on where you happen to live. Often several such smaller DLC packs are released in succession and thereby roughly matching the content amount you would expect from a more classical expansion pack but with a total price that is quite high in comparison. In my experience DLC tend to be priced a bit steeply in relation to the amount of content they bring. As a very current example Activision and Treyarch has recently announced that a DLC pack for the highly successful Call of Duty: Black Ops is to be expected in February 2011. The pack will cost $15 and consist of five maps… this is a very high price for such limited content in my opinion.

Sometimes paid DLC is even available at game launch, which gives me the impression that a part of the complete game has been chipped off to be sold separately, making the consumer pay more to get the actual full game.  

I think that the trend of DLC packs is here to stay, and this is not necessarily bad as it brings several advantages, but not only advantages unfortunately. Maybe is the trend of steeply priced DLC with little content only a new market being plagued by initial overzealous monetizing, but maybe it will only get worse. I guess that the only real influence we can have as consumers is actually refusing to buy overpriced DLC… but I’ll be the first to  admit that it’s freakishly difficult not to get that pack of extra content for a game I love.

All the best

Sequel to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is on its way

Oblivion was a fantastic game in many ways. It presented a huge, detailed world which kept many players, and among them me, occupied for countless of hours. And a funny thing about the game is that despite the hours I spent playing it, and all the fun and interesting experiences I had, I actually never finished the main storyline. There was just so much else to do in there.

The next chapter in the Elder Scrolls series has now recently been announced under the title Skyrim. Apart from the title nothing much is known about it so far, to me at least. What can be found online at the moment is in the form of a rather nondescript teaser trailer, no in game footage. I am very much looking forward to this release and we'll see what unfolds as more information become available.

All the best

Revisiting an old favourite

The indie game scene has really exploded lately with the help of digital download services, which provide a good way for small studios to get their games out. Lots a great titles have come out on the indie market over the past few years.

I just revisited one of these, one that really impressed me when it came out; namely Braid. This is a personal favourite and a very likeable puzzle platformer. I see Braid as a creation on the borderland between game and art. Now of course all games are a form of art in my opinion and don't get me wrong, it's absolutely a full-fledged game considering both game mechanics and sheer fun, but it also has something more. It plays with concepts, ideas and the environment in a very intelligent way and I often smiled when realising how obvious the solution to a puzzle I had been struggling with really was. All this is framed by beautiful artwork and music as well as a story that isn't too straightforward, one that requires some afterthought but actually has a meaning to convey. It isn't a long game to play through, lasting only around 5 hours, but it's a joy all the way through. Every obstacle you meet is a new one, requiring a new perspective and train of thought. There's nothing there just to stall you or fill out the game, all the content feels thought through.

Braid is in my opinion a very special creation, it's indeed short but in the end, when the pieces fall together, it still feels complete. It holds a modest price tag as well so I consider it well worth the buy, and if you have doubts there's a demo out there to try. Try it, and then come back and tell me about it. If you have already played it; tell me what you think.

All the best

Professional Starcraft 2

Computer games have come so far that people can actually make a living out of being professional gamers, in very much the same way as athletes of more conventional sports. I really like this development since the concept of winning fame and money gives a legitimacy to the phenomenon of playing games that it would lack if they were "only" played for fun.

Screenshot of Starcraft 2, taken from the official website.

A huge electronic sport is Starcraft 2, which I probably hardly even need to mention since most people with an interest in computer games know about this already. Several talented players even dedicate time to comment and upload matches to YouTube, to much appreciation. Starcraft 2, rivaled by the original Starcraft, is in my humble opinion the e-sport that is the most fun to watch. It's easy to get a rather clear view of what's happening and if you watch a game with a good commentator it's easy to follow the game and get an insight into the motivations of the players. As many know professional Starcraft and Starcraft 2 is really at its peak in Korea, where the game has become a part of the Korean pop culture. This is also where the best players reside.

I recently watched the Korean Starcraft 2 tournament G-Star Allstars featuring the very top of Korea's (and hence the world's) Starcraft 2 players. The games were good, as was expected,  with a very convincing winner of the finals. I can really recommend watching these games and thought I'd point you in the direction of one of the aforementioned YouTube commentators who has uploaded the series to his account.

The first game can be found here. If you check out the games, I'd be very happy to hear your thoughts on them.

All the best

Play on your stationary PC, from your laptop

Yesterday I wrote a post about OnLives game streaming service. Today I came across another interesting game streaming solution, which actually have been around for a while it seems. StreamMyGame is not a game distribution service (as OnLive is) but rather allows you to run your games on one machine and stream them over the internet to a different computer. This would for example be helpful if you had a high end stationary PC and wanted to play your games on your low end laptop away from home.

Remote access solutions similar to this isn't new to the market per se, but other products I have tested have been aimed at office tasks and couldn't handle the demands of modern games. I haven't tried StreamMyGame yet, but it's a highly interesting concept and might be worth checking out for someone who wants to be able to play on a low end laptop.

All the best

Game streaming in a new way

I have recently tested the OnLive game streaming service, and I thought I'd share my thoughts on this very interesting novelty. Game streaming services such as Steam and Impulse Driven have been around for a while but they are perhaps not streaming games in the purest sense of the word, since they are rather digital download services with clients. Now these are successful and in many ways good services, but OnLive provides a new approach. With the OnLive service, either via a free PC client or via a small box that you buy and plug into the internet connection, provides game streaming without any local game installation or high demands on your local hardware. All the actual graphic processing and game mechanics occur at OnLives servers, which allows high end gaming on low end machines.

This of course presents other requirements, such as a high speed internet connection. The connection also needs to be very reliable, there's no offline mode with this solution. Gaming demanding constant internet connection does seem to be the future for the PC anyway however, seeing as it's the new hip way of countering piracy. Several high profile companies, such as Blizzard, EA and UBIsoft demands constant connection to access features of their games that strictly speaking shouldn't need internet connection.

Anyway, my impressions of trying the service via the PC client were quite positive even though it's not an instant winner. The interface is intuitive and easy to use. Games can be bought via time limited game access passes of a few days up to three years. A subscription service seems to be coming in the near future. There is also a 30 minutes free trial available for most games, which strikes me as a very nice thing. The game catalogue is limited at the moment, as is expected with such a new service, but a larger selection will probably be available in the near future.

Doing most of my playing on the PC I'm getting used to high resolution and very crisp looking graphics. A resolution of 1920x1080 pixels along with a healthy dose of anti aliasing is becoming more or less standard. This is sadly not available using the OnLive service though, the graphics delivered are markedly a step down from what a high end PC produces today and there are no graphic options to tweak. I tested the trial of Assassins Creed II via OnLive and compared to my own local copy with highest settings, you can see the screenshots below if you'd like. I don't know if this difference is because our internet connections wouldn't be able to smoothly deliver the data amounts needed for really high end graphics or if it's because of limitations regarding OnLives game and graphic servers.

Local PC

OnLive

The community features seems very nice, and just in a matter of minutes after starting the trial of Darksiders I had several spectators cheering me on through the game tutorial. I also tried to spectate a few games myself, and if the player has not opted to keep his session private all the games currently being played are open for spectating.

As a closing remark to this rather long post; with the graphical limitations of the service, as well as the currently limited game catalogue I don't see myself investing seriously into this service right now. As a concept for the future however, I think this is extremely interesting and I will definitely be keeping an eye on this.

All the best

2199 and counting

I've been playing the game Super Meat Boy a lot lately and I'm having a great, albeit sometimes frustrating, time with it. If you haven't tried it, or even know what it is, its basic goal is to help the protagonist, appropriately named Meat Boy (since he's made of meat), come to the rescue of his big love Bandage Girl. Bandage Girl has been abducted by Dr Fetus, who for somewhat unclear reasons doesn't like Meat Boy very much. That pretty much sums up the story, but you'll have no problem accepting these as the motivating premises when you start playing, I promise. The game actually more or less makes a point out of presenting the storyline in a very unpretentious way. It's a straightforward and proven story concept made somewhat fresh by a really unusual set of characters. The game mechanics are also very easy to grasp, the game is played on short levels where you go from start to finish by timing a lot of jumps and leaps here and there and avoid hurtful things like saw blades and pointy syringes. I really love the game, but I did not intend for this to be a review.

Instead I wanted to touch upon a big reason for loving this game, namely that it's devilishly difficult without punishing failure too harshly. The levels aren't long, if you don't die on the way to the exit (which in every level is represented by Bandage Girl, just to be snapped away from you right before you reach her) no level will last over a minute. However, you will die. Most levels will need many tries... many, many tries. There is a nifty death count mechanic that shows you how many times you have killed the poor Meat Boy so far, I'm now at 2199 deaths after a few days of playing. That's a lot! But I always find myself trying one more time even after repeatedly falling into the same nasty buzzsaw. I always have the feeling that 'I'm not that far off, I'll definitely get the timing right next time' and it never takes more than a handful of seconds to get back to that tricky jump again for the next (failed?) attempt. The game never feels unfair, just really difficult, and I respect that. And I often find that subtle balance lacking in many modern games, to be challenging enough but not punish me for failure to the extent that I lose interest if I need too many tries.

To sum up my thoughts; I hope more games like this follows, but now I'm off to increase my stats... so to speak.

All the best